RADIO
Anibal Sanchez 2020 Outlook: Upside Potential From A 36-Year-Old
5 years agoIt seems like Anibal Sanchez should be about 100 years old, but he's only 36. He posted a solid campaign for the champion Nationals last season, going 11-8 with a 3.85 ERA over 166 IP. His xFIP wasn't as good (5.10) however, and he didn't generate anywhere near enough strikeouts (18.8 K%) to make up for the free passes he allowed (8.2 BB%). That said, his repertoire seems to have some upside. Sanchez threw a whopping seven different pitches last season, some of which were far more effective than others. His cutter (7.6 SwStr%, 53.8 Zone%) appears to be a better option than both his fastball (6.4%, 53.4%) and sinker (4.7%, 53.7%), but he only threw it 27.8% of the time. Likewise, his change is a fantastic wipeout pitch (18.7 SwStr%, 33.2 Zone%, 51.4% chase), but it was only used 23.5% of the time. His new splitter flashed K potential as well (17.4 SwStr%, 26.5 Zone%, 43.8% chase) in an admittedly small sample (4.5% thrown). Add in a curve that acts as a fastball (7.1 SwStr%, 57.7 Zone%), and Sanchez would almost certainly have some sleeper appeal if he was younger. As it stands, his current NFBC ADP of 341.3 is an affordable price to pay for a clear starter on a contending club.
